George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Handel in London: 5 Musical Walks

1/5. Donald Macleod embarks on his first walk through Handel's London, featuring the composer's home of 36 years and its immediate environs. He begins with a guided tour of the Handel House Museum on Brook Street, then visits St George's Hanover Square, the church in which Handel worshipped, played the organ and rented a pew. The final stop is Carlisle Street in Soho and the 18th century offices of Private Eye magazine, where art director Tony Rushton talks about his passion for former resident JC Smith, Handel's friend and amanuensis.

Hallelujah Chorus (Messiah)

The English Concert Choir

Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director)

Verdi prati; Mi Lusinga; Sta nell'Ircana (Alcina)

Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano)

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Charles Mackerras (conductor)

Honour and arms scorn such a foe (Samson)

Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Fugue in B flat

Jennifer Bate (organ)

The Triumph of Time and Truth (Act 2 excerpt)

Gillian Fisher (soprano)

Charles Brett (countertenor)

Stephen Varcoe (bass)

London Handel Choir and Orchestra

Denys Darlow (conductor).

Donald Macleod visits the Handel House Museum, and the 18th century offices of Private Eye

Handel in London: 5 Musical Walks

2/5. Donald Macleod traces Handel's royal connections on this second walk through the composer's London.

Starting at Westminster Abbey to survey Handel's decorative tomb, he is then joined by Lewis Foreman for a stroll along Whitehall to the historic Banqueting House and Queen Mary's Steps on the River Thames, where the royal party of 1717 departed for the famous performance of the Water Music. The final stop is the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, for which Handel composed a birthday ode for Queen Anne.

Zadok the Priest

Trevor Pinnock (organ)

Choir of Westminster Abbey

The English Concert

Simon Preston (conductor)

Utrecht Te Deum

The Choir of St Paul's Cathedral

The Parley of Instruments

John Scott (conductor)

Water Music Suite in D/G (excerpt)

Trevor Pinnock (director/harpsichord)

Eternal source of light divine (Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne)

Robin Blaze (countertenor)

Choir of King's College, Cambridge

The Academy of Ancient Music

Stephen Cleobury (conductor).

Donald Macleod traces Handel's royal connections in this London walk.

Handel in London: 5 Musical Walks

3/5. Donald Macleod and his guest Lewis Foreman explore some fascinating sites along The Strand where Handel undertook his musical business, from visits to publishers to private musical performances in an enthusiast's attic and a local tavern. The final stop is the museum of the Foundling Hospital, London's first home for abandoned children and Handel's favourite charity.

Virtue, truth and innocence (Esther)

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers (director)

Concerto grosso in G minor, Op 6 No 6

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)

Sonata in A, Op 1 No 3

Elizabeth Wallfisch (violin)

Richard Tunnicliffe (cello)

Paul Nicholson (harpsichord)

Anthem for the Foundling Hospital (excerpt)

Judith Nelson, Emma Kirkby (sopranos)

Shirley Minto (contralto)

James Bowman (countertenor)

Martyn Hill (tenor)

David Thomas (bass)

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

The Academy of Ancient Music

Simon Preston (conductor).

Donald Macleod explores some sites along The Strand.

Handel in London: 5 Musical Walks

4/5. Donald Macleod and guest Lewis Foreman follow the trail of Handel's time working at Cannons for the wealthy Duke of Chandos, near Edgware in North London. They visit the Baroque church of St Lawrence Whitchurch, for which Handel wrote a number of works, and the former site of the Duke's huge mansion, now the North London Collegiate School.

Blessed be God (Chandos Anthem No 11)

Ensemble William Byrd

L'Academie Sainte Cecile

Graham O'Reilly (director)

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 7 No 3

Paul Nicholson (organ)

The Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman (director/harpsichord)

Tis done; Heart, the seat of soft delight; Galatea, dry thy tears (Acis and Galatea)

Sophie Daneman (soprano)

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie (director)

As pants the hart for cooling streams (Chandos Anthem No 6)

Lynne Dawson (soprano)

Ian Partridge (tenor)

Michael George (bass)

The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

Harry Christophers (conductor).

Donald Macleod follows the trail of Handel's time working for the wealthy Duke of Chandos.

Handel in London: 5 Musical Walks

5/5. Donald Macleod and writer Roderick Swanston follow Handel's footsteps through London's historic theatreland. They traverse the West End in search of the theatres in which Handel's operas were performed, from the former King's Theatre in Haymarket, to the former incarnation of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and a long-vanished third opera house at Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Cara Sposa (Rinaldo)

Rinaldo - David Daniels (countertenor)

Giulio Cesare (excerpt)

Cleopatre - Barbara Schlick (soprano)

Giulio Cesare - Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano)

Concerto Cologne

Rene Jacobs (conductor)

Serse (excerpt)

Serse - Carolyn Watkinson (mezzo-soprano)

Le Grand Ecurie et la Chambre de Roy

Jean-Claude Malgoire (conductor)

Deidamia (excerpt)

Nerea - Dominique Labelle (soprano)

Fenice - Furio Zanasi (baritone)

Licomede - Antonio Abete (bass)

Ulisse - Anna Bonitatibus (mezzo-soprano)

Deidama - Simone Kermes (soprano)

Choir and Orchestra of Il Complesso Barocco

Alan Curtis (conductor).

Donald Macleod follows Handel's footsteps through London's historic theatreland.

Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (excerpt from Part 1)

Bellezza - Isabelle Poulenard (soprano)

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Marc Minkowski (conductor)

Erato ECD 75532, CD 1, Tr 18

Three arias (Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno)

Disinganno - Nathalie Stutzmann (alto)

Piacere - Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Tempo - John Elwes (tenor)

Erato ECD 75532, CD 1, Tr 6; CD 2, Tr 16; CD 1, Tr 10

(Oratorio per) La Resurrezione di Nostro Signor Gesu Cristo (excerpt from Part 1); Scene 1

Angel - Barbara Schlick (soprano)

Lucifer - Klaus Mertens (bass)

The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Ton Koopman (conductor)

Erato 2292-45617-2, CD 1, Trs 1-9

Acis and Galatea (1718) - Act 2, Scs 1-3

Polyphemus - Willard White (bass-baritone)

The English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Archiv 423 406-2, CD 2, Trs 1-3.

He discovers that Mainwaring's book is almost the only source for information about Handel's early life. His account is full of colourful incidents, many of which have since entered musical mythology, but Donald examines how how far we can trust Mainwairing's lively portrayal of the young composer.

Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season.

Sonata for two violins and strings, Op 5, No 4

Purcell Quartet

Chaconne CHAN0620, tracks 1-5

Vedrai s'a tuo dispetto (Almira)

Emma Kirkby (soprano)

The Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman (director)

Hyperion, CDA66860, track 2

Concerto grosso in F, Op 6, No 2

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (director)

Teldec 4509955002, CD2 tracks 6-9

Laudate pueri Dominum

Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Marc Minkowski (director)

Archive 4596272, track 7-14.

Donald Macleod asks how how far we can trust John Mainwaring's portrayal of Handel.

Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season.

Overture (Rodrigo)

The Parley of Instruments

Peter Holman (director)

Hyperion CDA67503, Trs 29, 30, 32, 33 and 37

Un leggiadro giovinetto (Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno)

Kate Aldrich (mezzo-soprano)

Anna Fontana (organ)

Academia Montis Regalis

Alessandro de Marchi (director)

Hyperion CDA676812, CD1, Trs 19, 20

Tacete, ohime, tacete

Yvonne Kenny (soprano)

John Shirley-Quirke (bass-baritone)

Jane Fenton (Cello)

Martin Isepp (harpsichord)

Meridian CDE84157, track 18

Utrecht Te Deum

Emma Kirkby, Judith Nelson (soprano)

Charles Brett (countertenor)

Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor)

Paul Elliott (tenor)

David Thomas (bass)

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

The Academy of Ancient Music

Simon Preston (director)

Decca 4580722, T15 - 22.

Donald Macleod follows Handel concluding his 'grand tour' of Italy and starting a new post

Esther (excerpt from Sc 2)

The Sixteen

The Symphony of Harmony and Invention

Harry Christophers (conductor)

Coro COR16019, CD 1, Tr 12

Esther (excerpts from Sc 2)

Ahasuerus - Tom Randle (tenor)

Esther - Lynda Russell (soprano)

Haman - Michael George (bass)

Harry Christophers (conductor) Coro COR16019 CD 2, Trs 15-19

Deborah (1733) - excerpt from Act 3, Sc 2

Abinoam - Michael George (bass)

Barak - James Bowman (coutertenor)

Jael and An Israelite Woman - Susan Gritton (mezzo-soprano)

Deborah - Yvonne Kenny (soprano)

Choir of New College, Oxford

Edward Higginbottom (director)

The King's Consort

Robert King (conductor)

Hyperion CDA66841/2, CD 2, Trs 21-29

Athalia (Act 1, Sc 3)

Athalia - Joan Sutherland (soprano)

Mathan - Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor)

Abner - David Thomas (bass)

Edward Higginbottom (chorus master)

The Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood (conductor)

Decca 475 207-2, CD 1, Trs 7-12.

Donald Macleod explores the accidental conception of the English oratorio.

Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season.

Suite II, Prelude (Water Music)

Le Concert Spirituel

Herve Niquet (conductor)

Glossa GCD921606, track 10

Water Music Suite III

Aradia Ensemble

Kevin Mallon (director)

Naxos 8557764 T.18-22

Overture and Chorus (Acis and Galatea)

Dunedin Consort and Players

John Butt (director)

Linn CKD319, tracks 1 and 2

Ombra cara (Radamisto)

Ralf Popken (countertenor)

Freiburger Barockorchester

Nicholas McGegan (director)

Harmonia Mundi HMU90711113, CD 2, Tracks 5 and 6

Alessandro (excerpts)

Catherine Bott (soprano)

Emma Kirkby (soprano)

The Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman (director)

Hyperion CDA66950, trs 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11.

Donald Macleod explores Handel's move to England.

Alexander's Feast (excerpt from Part 2)

The princes applaud (accompagnato - tenor)

Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor)

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)

Teldec 8.35671, CD 2, Tr 4

Saul (Act 3, Sc 5)

High Priest - Michael Slattery (tenor)

Merab - Emma Bell (soprano)

David - Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor)

Michal - Rosemary Joshua (soprano)

Abner - Finnur Bjarnason (tenor)

RIAS-Kammerchor

Concerto Koln

Rene Jacobs (conductor)

Harmonia Mundi HMC 901877.78, CD 2, Trs 18-23

Messiah (1741) - excerpt from Part 2

David Thomas (bass)

John Elwes (tenor)

The Shoin Women's University Chapel

Bach Collegium Japan

Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)

BIS CD 891/892, CD 2, Trs 17-21

Belshazzar (excerpts)

Daniel - James Bowman (countertenor)

Choir of The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock (conductor)

Archiv 477 037-2, CD 1, Trs 17-19.

Donald Macleod explores Handel's oratorios, focusing on Saul, Belshazzar and Messiah.

Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season.

Scipione: Scoglio d'immota fronte

Sandrine Piau (soprano)

Les Talens Lyriques

Christophe Rousset (director)

Naive E8894, track 1

My heart is inditing

Choir of Westminster Abbey

The English Concert

Simon Preston (director)

Archiv 4100302

Parnasso in Festa (Opening of part 2)

Rebecca Outram, Carolyn Sampson (soprano)

Diana Moore (mezzo-soprano)

Ruth Clegg (alto)

The King's Consort

The Choir of the King's Consort

Matthew Halls (director)

Hyperion CDA 67701/2, CD1 Tracks 22-24

Israel in Egypt (End of part 2)

Taverner Choir and Players

Andrew Parrott (director)

Virgin Classics VMD5613502, CD1 tr 21-22, CD 2 tr 1-7.

Donald Macleod explores Handel's work in opera in London in the 1720s and 30s.

Come, ever-smiling liberty (Judas Maccabaeus, 1746)

Israeliltish Woman - Emma Kirkby (soprano)

Israelitish Man - Catherine Denley (contralto)

Hyperion CDA66641/2, CD 1 Tr 18

Father of Heav'n; Wise man, flatt'ring, may deceive us (Judas Maccabeus)

Priest - James Bowman (countertenor)

Hyperion CDA66641/2, CD 2 Trs 23, 13

Sinfonia; Tis true, instinctive nature seldom points; Here amid the shady woods; Ah! was it not my Cleopatra's voice? Pow'rful guardians of all nature; Treach'ry, O king, unheard of treachery; Fury, with red sparkling eyes (Alexander Balus, Act 3)

The King's Consort

Robert King (conductor)

Hyperion CDA67241/2, CD 2 Trs 13-19

Now Give the Army Breath; Heroes When with Glory Burning; Indulgent Heav'n Hath Heard My Virgin Pray'r; As Cheers the Sun the Tender Flow'r; Sure I'm Deceiv'd, With Sorrow I Behold! Nations, Who in Future Story; Brethren and Friends, What Joy This Scene Imparts; Flourish of Warlike Instruments; Thus Far Our Cause Is Favour'd By the Lord; Flourish of Warlike Instruments; O Thou Bright Orb, Great Ruler of the Day (Joshua)

Joshua - James Gilcrhist (tenor)

Caleb - Konstantin Wolff (bass)

Achsah - Myung-Hee Hynun (soprano)

Othniel - Alex Potter (countertenor)

Kolner Kammerchor

Collegium Cartusianum

Peter Neumann (conductor)

MDG 332 1532-2, CD 2 Trs 14-24.

Part of Radio 3's Composers of the Year 2009 season.

Infernal spirits (Saul)

Paul Agnew (tenor)

Gabrieli Players

Paul McCreesh (director)

Archiv 4745102, CD 3, track 2

All we like sheep (Messiah)

Gabrieli Consort and Players

Archiv 4534642, CD1, track 24

Organ concerto No 4 in F

Matthew Halls (organ)

Sonnerie

Monica Huggett (director)

Avie, AV2055 tracks 1-4

Judas Maccabeus (End of Act 3)

Lisa Saffer (soprano)

Patricia Spence (mezzo-soprano)

David Thomas (bass)

UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Nicholas McGegan (director)

Harmonia Mundi, HMU90707778 CD2 tracks 21-23

Music for the Royal Fireworks

Boston Baroque

Martin Pearlman (director)

Telarc CD80594, tracks 1-5.

Donald Macleod explores a decade of enduring oratorios that would seal Handel's reputation

Solomon (excerpt from Act 1)

Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Philips 412 612-2, CD 1 Tr 14

Solomon (excerpts from Act 2)

First Harlot - Joan Rodgers (soprano)

Harlot - Della Jones (mezzo-soprano)

Solomon - Carolyn Watkinson (mezzo-soprano)

Philips 412 612-2, CD 2 Trs 2-4

Theodora (excerpts from Act 1)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (mezzo-soprano)

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Harry Bicket (conductor)

Avie AV 0030, Trs 3-4

Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano)

Paul Agnew (tenor)

Gabrieli Consort and Players

Paul McCreesh (conductor)

ARCHIV 469 061-2, Trs 24-25

Jephtha (excerpt from Act 2 Sc 4)

How dark, O Lord, are Thy decrees! (chorus)

Philips 422 351-2, CD 2 Tr 17.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University look at Handel's beginnings, his skillful ability to impress and control his employers, and his tendency to recycle existing music.

If you are in search of a good role model, an example of a life well spent, well navigated, look to George Frideric Handel's seventy-four years. From day one this divinely musical and decisive Saxon instinctively knew where to take himself and who to please.

Donald Macleod is joined by Suzanne Aspden, a Handel expert from Oxford University armed with the latest in Handel scholarship. Faced with hours of Handel's sublime music and the composer's eventful life story they've whisked up a focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music - with a look at Agrippina the opera that so impressed Venice, and an electric peformance of Dixit Dominus. They discuss Handel the politician, how the composer was adopted in England and found long-term favour with the new Hanoverian monarchy.

Some of the most arresting moments from Handel's operas Radamisto, Admeto, Partenope, and Ariodante dominate the third programme, a look at Handel the resourceful 'Opera divo'. And with ravishing music from his oratorios Esther, Saul, Samson and Messiah, Handel as 'Man of God' is also exposed, revealing the composer's ability to twist a ban on staging Biblical texts to his advantage.

Today the spirit of Handel lives on and in the final programme 'The Idea of Handel' Donald and Suzanne broadcast 'The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital', the Violin Sonata in D Op.1 and a saucy aria from Semele, as they exhibit how the reputation of this great composer has evolved over the centuries.

Donald Macleod on Handel's ability to impress and control his employers.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University reveal how Handel thrived in Britain thanks to his political acumen and his well-received music. Today's programme includes the Water Music and the kaleidoscopic sounds of the Keyboard Suite No.7 in G Minor.

If you are in search of a good role model, an example of a life well spent, well navigated, look to George Frideric Handel's seventy-four years. From day one this divinely musical and decisive Saxon instinctively knew where to take himself and who to please.

Donald Macleod is joined by Suzanne Aspden, a Handel expert from Oxford University armed with the latest in Handel scholarship. Faced with hours of Handel's sublime music and the composer's eventful life story they've whisked up a focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music - with a look at Agrippina the opera that so impressed Venice, and an electric peformance of Dixit Dominus. They discuss Handel the politician, how the composer was adopted in England and found long-term favour with the new Hanoverian monarchy.

Some of the most arresting moments from Handel's operas Radamisto, Admeto, Partenope, and Ariodante dominate the third programme, a look at Handel the resourceful 'Opera divo'. And with ravishing music from his oratorios Esther, Saul, Samson and Messiah, Handel as 'Man of God' is also exposed, revealing the composer's ability to twist a ban on staging Biblical texts to his advantage.

Today the spirit of Handel lives on and in the final programme 'The Idea of Handel' Donald and Suzanne broadcast 'The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital', the Violin Sonata in D Op.1 and a saucy aria from Semele, as they exhibit how the reputation of this great composer has evolved over the centuries.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden discuss how Handel thrived in Britain.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University place Handel in the London opera scene of the early 18th century, a world fraught with feuding both on and off the stage. In this charged atmosphere Handel walked a tight-rope existence as he veered from soothing to shocking his captive opera audience.

If you are in search of a good role model, an example of a life well spent, well navigated, look to George Frideric Handel's seventy-four years. From day one this divinely musical and decisive Saxon instinctively knew where to take himself and who to please.

Donald Macleod is joined by Suzanne Aspden, a Handel expert from Oxford University armed with the latest in Handel scholarship. Faced with hours of Handel's sublime music and the composer's eventful life story they've whisked up a focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music - with a look at Agrippina the opera that so impressed Venice, and an electric peformance of Dixit Dominus. They discuss Handel the politician, how the composer was adopted in England and found long-term favour with the new Hanoverian monarchy.

Some of the most arresting moments from Handel's operas Radamisto, Admeto, Partenope, and Ariodante dominate the third programme, a look at Handel the resourceful 'Opera divo'. And with ravishing music from his oratorios Esther, Saul, Samson and Messiah, Handel as 'Man of God' is also exposed, revealing the composer's ability to twist a ban on staging Biblical texts to his advantage.

Today the spirit of Handel lives on and in the final programme 'The Idea of Handel' Donald and Suzanne broadcast 'The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital', the Violin Sonata in D Op.1 and a saucy aria from Semele, as they exhibit how the reputation of this great composer has evolved over the centuries.

Donald Macleod on Handel's place in the London opera scene of the early 18th century.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University put Handel's spirtual beliefs under the microscope and explain the circumstances that led to the composer repositioning himself as a composer of oratorios.

If you are in search of a good role model, an example of a life well spent, well navigated, look to George Frideric Handel's seventy-four years. From day one this divinely musical and decisive Saxon instinctively knew where to take himself and who to please.

Donald Macleod is joined by Suzanne Aspden, a Handel expert from Oxford University armed with the latest in Handel scholarship. Faced with hours of Handel's sublime music and the composer's eventful life story they've whisked up a focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music - with a look at Agrippina the opera that so impressed Venice, and an electric peformance of Dixit Dominus. They discuss Handel the politician, how the composer was adopted in England and found long-term favour with the new Hanoverian monarchy.

Some of the most arresting moments from Handel's operas Radamisto, Admeto, Partenope, and Ariodante dominate the third programme, a look at Handel the resourceful 'Opera divo'. And with ravishing music from his oratorios Esther, Saul, Samson and Messiah, Handel as 'Man of God' is also exposed, revealing the composer's ability to twist a ban on staging Biblical texts to his advantage.

Today the spirit of Handel lives on and in the final programme 'The Idea of Handel' Donald and Suzanne broadcast 'The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital', the Violin Sonata in D Op.1 and a saucy aria from Semele, as they exhibit how the reputation of this great composer has evolved over the centuries.

Donald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden examine Handel's spiritual leanings.

Donald Macleod & Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University chart Handel's final years and look at how his reputation and music have been viewed by subsequent generations. Includes a rare chance to hear a complete peformance of The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital.

If you are in search of a good role model, an example of a life well spent, well navigated, look to George Frideric Handel's seventy-four years. From day one this divinely musical and decisive Saxon instinctively knew where to take himself and who to please.

Donald Macleod is joined by Suzanne Aspden, a Handel expert from Oxford University armed with the latest in Handel scholarship. Faced with hours of Handel's sublime music and the composer's eventful life story they've whisked up a focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music - with a look at Agrippina the opera that so impressed Venice, and an electric peformance of Dixit Dominus. They discuss Handel the politician, how the composer was adopted in England and found long-term favour with the new Hanoverian monarchy.

Some of the most arresting moments from Handel's operas Radamisto, Admeto, Partenope, and Ariodante dominate the third programme, a look at Handel the resourceful 'Opera divo'. And with ravishing music from his oratorios Esther, Saul, Samson and Messiah, Handel as 'Man of God' is also exposed, revealing the composer's ability to twist a ban on staging Biblical texts to his advantage.

Today the spirit of Handel lives on and in the final programme 'The Idea of Handel' Donald and Suzanne broadcast 'The Anthem for the Foundling Hospital', the Violin Sonata in D Op.1 and a saucy aria from Semele, as they exhibit how the reputation of this great composer has evolved over the centuries.

Donald Macleod charts Handel's final years and considers his image to later generations.

Handel's networking skills were almost on a level with his compositional prowess, and wherever he went, he seemed effortlessly to ally himself with the most powerful and influential cultural gatekeepers of the day. So today's programme focuses on Handel's Italian patrons - princes, marquises, cardinals, duchesses - all dazzled by the brilliance of the man they knew as Il caro Sassone - the dear Saxon.

Donald Macleod on Handel's Italian patrons - princes, marquises, cardinals, duchesses.

The closest thing Handel had to a day job at this point in his life was the production of secular cantatas for his chief Italian benefactor, the Marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli. Handel wrote dozens of these mini operatic scenas, yet they are among the least known of his works. Today's programme focuses on some of the gems of this rich and varied repertory.

Donald Macleod focuses on the repertoire of cantatas for Handel's chief Italian benefactor

Today's programme explores the impact Italian music and Italian musical virtuosity had on the young Handel, who absorbed the style of Corelli in particular, just as JS Bach would shortly soak up Vivaldi's influence - although the international Handel went direct to the source (Corelli was his Roman concertmaster), while the stay-at-home Bach relied on scores brought back from the travels of others. Another Italian musician to leave a notable mark on Handel was the soprano Margherita Durastanti, with whom he may or may not have had an extra-musical liaison.

Donald Macleod on the impact Italian music and musical virtuosity had on the young Handel.

Today's programme focuses on a single work - Handel's first operatic smash hit, and a coals-to-Newcastle venture if ever there was one - Agrippina, written for the leading house in the birthplace of opera, Venice.

Donald Macleod explores Handel's first operatic smash hit, Agrippina.

The last of the week's programmes considers the subsequent reverberations of Handel's Italian experience: the Italian cantata movements immortalized in Messiah; the emergence of one of the composer's best-loved works, Acis and Galatea, from its Italian prototype; Handel's hommage to Corelli in his set of 12 concerti grossi; and the oratorio that framed his musical career - a 'triumph' of recycling.

Donald Macleod explores after-echoes of Handel's Italian years in his English works.

Today, Handel is dismissed from his post as Kapellmeister to Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover, but restored to favour when Georg - now George - accedes to the British throne. George is a keen opera-goer so Handel, eager to please, throws himself with gusto into London's nascent operatic scene. Things come temporarily unstuck when the opera company runs into financial trouble and disbands, but this doesn't distract Handel from coming up with the perfect soundtrack for some right royal messing about on the river: his Water Music.

Donald Macleod explores Handel's early years in London.

Today, Handel takes the helm of the newly founded Royal Academy of Music; is appointed Composer for his Majesty's Chapel Royal and Music Master to the royal princesses; creates a string of highly-regarded operatic masterpieces; and makes a seriously upmarket house-move ? right next door to Jimi Hendrix.

Donald Macleod on what happened after Handel took the helm of the Royal Academy of Music.

Today, George I dies, unexpectedly and unconventionally ? 'of a surfeit of watermelons' is the official word. One of his last constitutional acts was to sign Handel's naturalization papers, and now that the composer was a true Brit there was no bar to his composing the music for the new king's coronation. By all accounts the performances on the day were chaotic, but the scale and magnificence of the music made a lasting impression on those present, and has set the tone for coronations to this day. Handel's deeply competitive leading operatic ladies, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, set very much the wrong tone when they scrapped in front of Princess ? soon to be Queen ? Caroline; the King's Theatre, Haymarket, descended into chaos during a performance of Bononcini's opera Astianatte, as the two prima donnas screamed abuse at each other. Happily, no such excitements marred the premi耀re of Handel's new one, Riccardo Primo, an opera about Richard the Lionheart ? the perfect subject-matter to mark the new king's accession.

Donald Macleod focuses on what happened to Handel after the death of George I.

Today, Handel bids a musical farewell to his friend and devoted supporter Queen Caroline, dead within ten years of her coronation. Had she survived longer, she would doubtless have joined the long list of royal subscribers to her favourite composer's Concerti Grossi, published in 1739. Four years on, her husband George II became the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle ? at Dettingen, south-east of Frankfurt, where his makeshift army defeated the French. Handel seems to have mistaken this minor skirmish for a major victory, and decided to mark it with a grand Te Deum. He conceived it for the enormous spaces of St Paul's Cathedral, but in the event it was performed in the much more intimate surroundings of the Chapel Royal ?a musical quart in an architectural pint pot.

Donald Macleod focuses on the death of Handel's friend and supporter Queen Caroline.

Today, explosions both warlike and peaceful. On the 19th of August 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie pitched up on the coast of Scotland for one last crack at toppling the house of Hanover ? thereby setting in train a chain of events that's become known to history as the Jacobite Rising of '45. Charles and his Highlanders made it as far south as Derby before being turned back and eventually routed at the Battle of Culloden. In response, Handel went into patriotic overdrive; his oratorio Judas Maccabaeus celebrates the hero of the hour, Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. With the Jacobites quelled, British troops could be redeployed on the Continent in the continuing conflict over the Austrian Succession. Its resolution in the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle gave Handel another opportunity for sonic celebration: his Music for the Royal Fireworks.

Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63, (Act 3; 'See, the conqu'ring hero comes!')

Choir of New College, Oxford

King's Consort

Robert King (conductor)

Occasional Oratorio, HWV 62; Ouverture

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord and direction

From scourging rebellion (A Song on the Victory obtained over the Rebels)', HWV 228 no.9

Charles Daniels, Andrew Carwood, Simon Davies, tenors

Adrian Butterfield, violin

Katherine Sharman, cello

David Miller, theorbo

Paul Nicholson, harpsichord

Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63 (Act 1; conclusion)

Emma Kirkby, soprano (Israelitish Woman)

Catherine Denley, mezzo-soprano (Israelitish Man)

Jamie MacDougall, tenor (Judas Maccabaeus)

Robert King, conductor

Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 (original version) The English Concert

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod focuses on music Handel wrote in response to major political events.

Messiah: Excerpt from Part II

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, Conductor

Almira, Dance Suite

The Parley of Instruments

Peter Holman, conductor

Dixit Dominus (Excerpt)

The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

Rinaldo Act II Sc 4: Lascia ch'io pianga

Cecilia Bartoli, soprano (Almirena)

The Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, conductor.

Donald Macleod recounts how the young Handel defied his father to pursue a career in music

Handel quickly found his feet in London. He was introduced at court and Queen Anne moved to grant him a regular pension. He found himself with a a steady stream of lucrative commissions and began to develop a brand new vocal genre that would soon take his adopted nation by storm. Esther becomes the first English Oratorio. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Eternal Source of Light Divine (Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne)

Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Academy of Ancient Music

Simon Preston, conductor

My Song Shall Be Alway (Chandos Anthem No 7)

The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

Harry Christophers, conductor

Keyboard Suite No 2 in F major, HWV 427

Ottavio Dantone, harpsichord

Acis and Galatea (excerpt)

Kym Amps, soprano (Galatea)

The Scholars Baroque Ensemble

David van Asch, conductor

Overture: Esther

Dunedin Concert

John Butt, conductor.

Donald Macleod focuses on the period when Handel made London his permanent home.

At the height of his career, Handel is commissioned to compose music for the King's coronation, but there's trouble afoot at the Royal Academy with squabbling singers and exorbitant costs. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Overture: Alessandro

Armonia Atenea

George Petrou, conductor

Coronation Anthem: The King Shall Rejoice

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, director

Tolomeo, Re d'Egitto (extract from Act 3)

Ann Hallenburg, mezzo (Tolomeo)

II Complesso Barocco

Alan Curtis, conductor

Overture: Lotario

Il Complesso Barocco

Alan Curtis, conductor.

Donald Macleod discusses the period when Handel took charge at the Royal Academy of Music.

Overture: Deborah:

The King's Consort

Robert King, conductor

Alcina (extract from Act 2)

Joyce DiDonato, soprano (Alcina)

Il Complesso Barocco

Alan Curtis, conductor

Organ Concerto in G major, Op 4 No 1

Paul Nicholson, organ

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, conductor

Sweet bird, that shuns't the noise of folly (L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato)

Gillian Webster, soprano

Gabrieli Consort

Paul McCreesh, conductor.

How Handel's rivalry with the Opera of the Nobility produced considerable results.

Also featuring Handel's tribute to the last reigning British monarch to lead his troops into battle. Presented by Donald Macleod.

I know that my redeemer liveth (Messiah)

Caroline Sampson, soprano

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, conductor

The Dettingen Anthem

Choir of Westminster Abbey

English Concert

Simon Preston, conductor

Enjoy the sweet Elysian grove (Alceste)

Paul Elliott, tenor

Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Anthem for the Foundling Hospital

Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Academy of Ancient Music,

Simon Preston, conductor.

Donald Macleod focuses on the debut in Ireland of Handel's most enduring work, Messiah.

`A fine and delicate touch, a Volant finger and a ready delivery of passages the most difficult, are the praise of inferior artists. They were not noticed in Handel, whose excellencies were of a far superior kind, and his amazing command of the instrument, the fullness of his harmony, the grandeur and dignity of his style, the copiousness of his imagination, and the fertility of his invention were qualities that absorbed every inferior attainment.` So wrote Handel's biographer John Hawkins, attempting to capture in words the effect made on him by the almost ineffably brilliant organ-playing of his subject. Things could have turned out very differently. Handel's father, court surgeon to Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, had wanted his son to pursue a career in the law, but fate intervened when the Duke overheard young Georg Frideric playing the organ after service one Sunday and strongly encouraged Georg senior to allow his son to have a musical training. Within a few years, Handel left to seek his fortune in Italy, where a contemporary account has a snapshot of him playing the organ in Rome, `to the astonishment of everyone`. At this point in his life, the organ was an instrument Handel improvised on rather than - with a handful of exceptions - composed for, and it's not until the mid 1730s that he produced the first of his organ concertos, for performance between the acts of a revival of his oratorio Esther.

Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a; (Sonata - ‘Taci, qual suono ascolto')

Le Concert d'Astr退e

Emmanuelle Ham, organ and direction

Fugue in G, HWV 606

Ton Koopman, organ of St James', Great Packington

Concerto Grosso in D, Op 3 No 6 (HWV 317)

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Deborah, HWV 51 (Act 2, ‘In the battle, fame pursuing')

James Bowman, countertenor (Barak)

Paul Nicholson, chamber organ

The King's Consort

Robert King, conductor

Esther, HWV 50b (Act 1 scene 1, extract)

Rebecca Outram, soprano (Israelite woman)

Rosemary Joshua, soprano (Esther)

Handel Orchestra and Chorus

Laurence Cummings, conductor

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 4 No 2 (HWV 290)

Ottavio Dantone, organ and direction

Accademia Bizantina

Esther, HWV 50b (Act 2 scene 4, extract)

Producer: Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. Today, Handel invents the organ concerto.

Handel - not just a great composer but an astute businessman too - got into oratorio at precisely the right time. Since the late 1720s, the London public's appetite for opera in Italian had been on a downward trajectory. Then in 1733, a rival company - the Opera of the Nobility - set itself up in direct competition to Handel, making the Italian-opera pound even harder to earn. Handel's return to oratorio began with what might have been a one-off revival of a fifteen-year-old work, Esther, to mark his 47th birthday. But when, a couple of months later, a ‘pirate' performance of the same piece was put on without his permission, Handel recaptured the initiative by quickly mounting a new, substantially revised version. It was a great success, which he followed up first with Acis and Galatea - an English revision of his Italian oratorio Aci, Galatea e Polifemo - and then with a new oratorio, Deborah. From this accidental sequence of events, the English oratorio tradition was born - along with the organ concerto, which Handel introduced to beef up the evening's entertainment to match the experience of an evening at the opera. In Alexander's Feast, or The Power of Musick, the concerti - for organ and harp - are actually integrated into the narrative.

Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89 (No 8, ‘Tra amplessi innocenti', extract)

Jennifer Smith, soprano

John Elwes, tenor

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Concerto Grosso in C, HWV 318 (Alexander's Feast)

Collegium Musicum 90

Simon Standage, conductor

Harp Concerto in B flat, Op 4 No 6 (HWV 294)

Frances Kelly, harp

Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman, conductor

Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of Musick, HWV 75 (Pt 2, No 25: ‘Thus, long ago, 'ere heaving Bellows learned to blow')

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Stockholm Bach Choir

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Organ Concerto in G minor, Op 4 No 1 (HWV 289)

Ton Koopman, organ and direction

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Producer: Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. As opera wanes oratorio is on the up.

Handel - not just a great composer but an astute businessman too - got into oratorio at precisely the right time. Since the late 1720s, the London public's appetite for opera in Italian had been on a downward trajectory. Then in 1733, a rival company - the Opera of the Nobility - set itself up in direct competition to Handel, making the Italian-opera pound even harder to earn. Handel's return to oratorio began with what might have been a one-off revival of a fifteen-year-old work, Esther, to mark his 47th birthday. But when, a couple of months later, a ‘pirate' performance of the same piece was put on without his permission, Handel recaptured the initiative by quickly mounting a new, substantially revised version. It was a great success, which he followed up first with Acis and Galatea - an English revision of his Italian oratorio Aci, Galatea e Polifemo - and then with a new oratorio, Deborah. From this accidental sequence of events, the English oratorio tradition was born - along with the organ concerto, which Handel introduced to beef up the evening's entertainment to match the experience of an evening at the opera. In Alexander's Feast, or The Power of Musick, the concerti - for organ and harp - are actually integrated into the narrative.

Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89 (No 8, ‘Tra amplessi innocenti', extract)

Jennifer Smith, soprano

John Elwes, tenor

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Concerto Grosso in C, HWV 318 (Alexander's Feast)

Collegium Musicum 90

Simon Standage, conductor

Harp Concerto in B flat, Op 4 No 6 (HWV 294)

Frances Kelly, harp

Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman, conductor

Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of Musick, HWV 75 (Pt 2, No 25: ‘Thus, long ago, 'ere heaving Bellows learned to blow')

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Stockholm Bach Choir

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Organ Concerto in G minor, Op 4 No 1 (HWV 289)

Ton Koopman, organ and direction

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Producer: Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. As opera wanes oratorio is on the up.

When Handel's librettist Charles Jennens paid a visit to the composer while he was at work on his oratorio Saul, he found his head to be `more full of Maggots than ever` - maggots being not the larvae of flies, but an archaic term for ‘bizarre ideas'. The first thing to disconcert Jennens was `a very queer Instrument which He calls Carillon. 'Tis play'd upon with Keys like a Harpsichord, & with this Cyclopean Instrument he designs to make poor Saul

When Handel's collaborator Charles Jennens tried to interest him in `a collection from Scripture` - Messiah, he called it - the composer wasn't initially interested. But when Jennens steered him in the direction of the writer whose work was probably, after the Bible, the most widely read and admired in this country, John Milton, Handel responded with enthusiasm. The initial proposal was for a work based on two of Milton's poems, L'Allegro (the cheerful man) and Il Penseroso (the pensive man), to which Jennens then added text for a third character, Il Moderato - the moderate man. If this plotless concoction sounds like an unpromising basis for a composer of Handel's dramatic flair to build on, the end result - the oratorio L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato - is full of simply wonderful, poetic music that evokes the landscapes and pastoral moods of Handel's adoptive country. There was nothing pastoral about the conditions of the premi耀re. Because the winter of 1739-40 was unusually severe, the initial run of performances had to be pushed back from New Year to mid-February. Even then, it was so cold in the theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields that a newspaper ad was placed to reassure punters that the venue had been `secur'd against the cold by having curtains placed before every door, and constant fires being ordered to be kept in the House ‘till the time of the Performance.` Following the great success of L'Allegro, Il penseroso ed Il moderato came a pair of operatic flops, Imeneo and Deidamia, after which Handel devoted himself more or less exclusively to oratorio - producing first Messiah, about which he had had a change of heart, then Samson, inspired by another Milton poem, Samson Agonistes. As was Handel's usual practice, both L'Allegro and Samson were provided with fine organ concerti, written specially for the occasion.

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Pt 1, ‘Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee')

Jeremy Ovenden, tenor

Gabrieli Consort and Players

Paul McCreesh, conductor

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 7 No 1 (HWV 306)

William Whitehead, organ

Gabrieli Players

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Pt 3, duet: ‘As steals the morn upon the night')

Gillian Webster, soprano

Samson, HWV 57 (Pt 2, ‘Return, O God of Hosts!')

The Sixteen

The Symphony of Harmony and Invention

Harry Christophers, conductor

Organ Concerto in A, Op 7 No 2 (HWV 307)

Ton Koopman, organ

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. Today, Handel finally gets out of opera.

When Handel's collaborator Charles Jennens tried to interest him in `a collection from Scripture` - Messiah, he called it - the composer wasn't initially interested. But when Jennens steered him in the direction of the writer whose work was probably, after the Bible, the most widely read and admired in this country, John Milton, Handel responded with enthusiasm. The initial proposal was for a work based on two of Milton's poems, L'Allegro (the cheerful man) and Il Penseroso (the pensive man), to which Jennens then added text for a third character, Il Moderato - the moderate man. If this plotless concoction sounds like an unpromising basis for a composer of Handel's dramatic flair to build on, the end result - the oratorio L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato - is full of simply wonderful, poetic music that evokes the landscapes and pastoral moods of Handel's adoptive country. There was nothing pastoral about the conditions of the premi耀re. Because the winter of 1739-40 was unusually severe, the initial run of performances had to be pushed back from New Year to mid-February. Even then, it was so cold in the theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields that a newspaper ad was placed to reassure punters that the venue had been `secur'd against the cold by having curtains placed before every door, and constant fires being ordered to be kept in the House ‘till the time of the Performance.` Following the great success of L'Allegro, Il penseroso ed Il moderato came a pair of operatic flops, Imeneo and Deidamia, after which Handel devoted himself more or less exclusively to oratorio - producing first Messiah, about which he had had a change of heart, then Samson, inspired by another Milton poem, Samson Agonistes. As was Handel's usual practice, both L'Allegro and Samson were provided with fine organ concerti, written specially for the occasion.

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Pt 1, ‘Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee')

Jeremy Ovenden, tenor

Gabrieli Consort and Players

Paul McCreesh, conductor

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 7 No 1 (HWV 306)

William Whitehead, organ

Gabrieli Players

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Pt 3, duet: ‘As steals the morn upon the night')

Gillian Webster, soprano

Samson, HWV 57 (Pt 2, ‘Return, O God of Hosts!')

The Sixteen

The Symphony of Harmony and Invention

Harry Christophers, conductor

Organ Concerto in A, Op 7 No 2 (HWV 307)

Ton Koopman, organ

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. Today, Handel finally gets out of opera.

Written at great speed in 1747 during the most disastrous months of the War of the Austrian Succession, Handel's oratorio Joshua tapped in to contemporary events with a tale of conflict, heroism and deliverance, and was not surprisingly a huge success with its first audiences. By contrast, the bleak and inward-looking Theodora - about the Christian martyr of that name and her Roman lover Didymus - failed to make an impression, and ran for just three performances. It's now widely regarded as one of Handel's finest works - the last thoughts of a great master. A month after he finished Theodora, Handel noted what he called a severe `relaxation` of his left eye. Within two years his blindness would be complete. Even then he continued to play the organ, though now he had to be guided to it, then back towards the audience to take his bow.

Organ Concerto in D minor, Op 7 No 4 (HWV 309) (4th mvt, Allegro)

Bob van Asperen, organ and direction

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Sinfonia in B flat, HWV 347

Concerto K怀ln

Joshua, HWV 64 (Act 2, ‘Glory to God!')

James Gilchrist, tenor (Joshua)

K怀lner Kammerchor

Collegium Cartusianum

Peter Neumann, conductor

Organ Concerto in G minor, Op 7 No 5 (HWV 310)

Paul Nicholson, organ

Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman, conductor and harpsichord continuo

Theodora, HWV 68 (Act 3, ‘Streams of pleasure ever flowing'; ‘Thither let our hearts aspire')

Robin Blaze, countertenor (Didymus)

Susan Gritton, soprano (Theodora)

Gabrieli Players

Paul McCreesh, conductor

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 7 No 3 (HWV 308)

Richard Egarr, organ

Academy of Ancient Music

Producer: Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. Today, Joshua's a hit, Theodora's not.

Written at great speed in 1747 during the most disastrous months of the War of the Austrian Succession, Handel's oratorio Joshua tapped in to contemporary events with a tale of conflict, heroism and deliverance, and was not surprisingly a huge success with its first audiences. By contrast, the bleak and inward-looking Theodora - about the Christian martyr of that name and her Roman lover Didymus - failed to make an impression, and ran for just three performances. It's now widely regarded as one of Handel's finest works - the last thoughts of a great master. A month after he finished Theodora, Handel noted what he called a severe `relaxation` of his left eye. Within two years his blindness would be complete. Even then he continued to play the organ, though now he had to be guided to it, then back towards the audience to take his bow.

Organ Concerto in D minor, Op 7 No 4 (HWV 309) (4th mvt, Allegro)

Bob van Asperen, organ and direction

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Sinfonia in B flat, HWV 347

Concerto K怀ln

Joshua, HWV 64 (Act 2, ‘Glory to God!')

James Gilchrist, tenor (Joshua)

K怀lner Kammerchor

Collegium Cartusianum

Peter Neumann, conductor

Organ Concerto in G minor, Op 7 No 5 (HWV 310)

Paul Nicholson, organ

Brandenburg Consort

Roy Goodman, conductor and harpsichord continuo

Theodora, HWV 68 (Act 3, ‘Streams of pleasure ever flowing'; ‘Thither let our hearts aspire')

Robin Blaze, countertenor (Didymus)

Susan Gritton, soprano (Theodora)

Gabrieli Players

Paul McCreesh, conductor

Organ Concerto in B flat, Op 7 No 3 (HWV 308)

Richard Egarr, organ

Academy of Ancient Music

Producer: Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod focuses on Handel the organist. Today, Joshua's a hit, Theodora's not.

In 1719 the Royal Academy of Music was formed in order to create a more secure footing for the production of Italian opera, which was just the platform Handel needed. Donald Macleod introduces music from the first opera he wrote for the Academy - complete with family feuds, illicit passions and royal tyrants - the second suite created from the music which famously accompanied King George I's progress along the River Thames in 1717 and one of the eleven anthems Handel composed in honour of his patron the first Duke of Chandos.

Aria: Venti turbini (Rinaldo)

David Daniels, countertenor (Rinaldo)

Academy of Ancient Music

Director Christopher Hogwood

Water Music Suite No 2

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Conductor George Kallweit

O Sing unto the Lord

The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

Conductor Harry Christophers

Radamisto (excerpt)

Maite Beaumont, mezzo-soprano (Zenobia)

Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano (Radamisto)

Laura Cherici, soprano (Tigrane)

Dominique Labelle, soprano (Fraarte)

Il Complesso Barocco

Director Alan Curtis.

Donald Macleod introduces music from Handel's early years in the English capital.

Ottone: 'Falsa immagine

Lisa Saffer, soprano (Teofane)

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Conductor Nicholas McGegan

Giulio Cesare (excerpt)

Karina Gauvin, soprano (Cleopatra)

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, alto (Cesare)

Gianluca Buratto, bass (Curio)

Il Complesso Barocco

Conductor Alan Curtis

Alessandro (excerpts)

Max Emanuel Cencic, countertenor (Alessandro)

Juan Sancho, tenor (Leonato)

Julia Lezhneva, soprano (Rossane)

Karina Gauvin, soprano (Lisaura)

Armonia Atenea

Conductor George Petrou.

Donald Macleod introduces operas Handel wrote for some of the best singers of his time.

Handel arr Somervell: Silent Worship

Kenneth McKellar (tenor)

London Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Adrian Boult

Coronation Anthem: The King Shall Rejoice

The Sixteen Chorus and Orchestra

Conductor Harry Christophers

Trio Sonata in G, Op 5 No 4

Brook Street Band

Orlando (excerpt)

Sophie Karth䀀user, soprano (Angelica)

Bejun Mehta, countertenor (Orlando)

Kristina Hammarstr怀m, mezzo-soprano (Medoro)

B'Rock Orchestra

Director Ren退 Jacobs.

Donald Macleod introduces music by Handel from the new king's reign.

Alcina (excerpts)

Ren退e Fleming, soprano (Alcina)

Timothy Robinson, tenor (Oronte)

Les Arts Florissants

Conductor William Christie

Organ Concerto in F, Op 4 No 5

Matthew Halls (organ)

Sonnerie

Director Monica Huggett

Alexander's Feast (excerpt)

Sophie Bevan (soprano)

Ed Lyon (tenor)

Ludus Baroque

Conductor Richard Neville-Towle.

Donald Macleod sees trouble brewing when a second opera company arrives on the scene.

Donald Macleod introduces one of Handel's last operas, full of light-hearted, amorous intrigue, the first of a set of twelve concerti grossi which are the finest things of their kind he ever composed, and part of the oratorio widely regarded as Handel's most fundamentally English creation.

Serse (excerpts)

Anna St退phany, mezzo-soprano (Serse)

Hilary Summers, alto (Amasatre)

Brindley Sherratt, bass (Ariodate)

Early Opera Company

Conductor, Christian Curnyn

Concerto grosso in G, Op 6 No 1

Gabrieli Players

Conductor Paul McMcreesh

L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato (Part 3: Il Moderato)

Gillian Webster (soprano)

Jeremy Ovenden (tenor)

Peter Harvey (baritone)

Gabrieli Consort and Players

Conductor Paul McMcreesh.

Donald Macleod looks on as Handel reinvents himself as a composer of English oratorio.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores the crackling tension between Handel and his fashionable librettist Metastasio, and his falling out with the singers in the opera company on whom his work depended.

In 1730 Handel was a popular composer for opera, still fashionable and successful. But he was also a volatile, hot-blooded man who could rub people up the wrong way. He was no diplomat, and spoke his mind forcefully, not tactfully. His collaborators were often on the receiving end of his passionate opinions.

Oratorio: Esther, HWV 50b (revised version 1732)

Air: Tune Your Harps to Cheerful Strains (Act 1)

Chorus: The Lord Our Enemy Has Slain (Act 3)

Rebecca Outram, soprano (Israelite Woman)

London Handel Choir

London Handel Orchestra

Laurence Cummings, conductor

Trio Sonata in C major, HWV 403

The Brook Street Band

Seranata: Acis and Galatea, HWV 49

Aria: Hush, ye pretty warbling quire (Act 1)

Sophie Daneman, soprano (Galatea)

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, conductor

Concerto Grosso in D major Op. 3 No. 6, HWV 317

Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra

Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Orlando, HWV 31

Ah! Stigie larve; Vaghe pupille (Act 1)

Patricia Bardon, mezzo-soprano (Orlando)

Produced by Iain Chambers

Donald Macleod on the tension between Handel and his musicians, on whom his work depended.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores how Handel's fallings out with the performers who had realised so many of his acclaimed stage works had an immediate impact on his work. Their defection to a new rival company, The Opera of the Nobility, under composer Nicola Porpora, was supported by the patronage of the Prince of Wales. Handel lost all but one of the singers with whom he'd previously worked, along with many of his patrons, and the two companies went head to head.

Opera: Arianna in Creta, HWV 32

Aria: Son qual stanco pellegrino (Act 2)

Sandrine Piau, soprano (Ariadne)

Les Talens Lyriques

Christophe Rousset, conductor

Concerto Grosso in G major, Op. 6 No. 1, HWV 319

Academy of Ancient Music

Andrew Manze, conductor

Opera: Ariodante HWV 33

Aria: Scherza infida (Act 2)

Aria: Dopo notte (Act 3)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano (Ariodante)

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Oratorio: Deborah, HWV 51

Chorus: See, the proud chief (Part 2)

Chorus: Let our glad songs to heav'n ascend (Part 3)

Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra

Junge Kantorei

Joachim Carlos Martini, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers

Donald Macleod on how Handel's fallings out had an immediate impact on his work.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores how Handel's career survived the threat posed by the rival Opera of the Nobility, and with the opera Alcina, he had an instant success, vanquishing his opponents with 18 initial performances. He was back. And he was occasionally in a more conciliatory mood, writing the opera Atalanta to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales, gambling that it might win back his support. Also during this time Handel introduced the concept of the organ concerto, during performances of his oratorios.

Opera: Alcina, HWV 34

Ombre pallide

Ren退e Fleming, soprano (Alcina)

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, conductor

Oratorio: Alexander's Feast, HWV 75

Air and Chorus: Bacchus, ever fair and young

Chorus: The many rend the skies

Michael George, bass

The Sixteen

Symphony of Harmony and Invention

Harry Christophers, conductor

Concerto in B flat major, Op. 4 No. 6, HWV 294

Stephen Stubbs, lute

Andrew Lawrence-King, harp

Erin Headley, lirone

Organ Concerto in G minor, Op. 4 No. 1, HWV 289

I. Larghetto e staccato

IV. Andante

Richard Egarr, organ

Academy of Ancient Music

Opera: Atalanta, HWV 35

Aria: Lassa! ch'io t'ho perduta (Act 2)

Katalin Farkas, soprano (Atalanta)

Capella Savaria

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers

Donald Macleod on how Handel survived the threat from the Opera of the Nobility.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores 1737, the year Handel suffered a stroke, losing the use of his right arm, and enduring attendant mental health problems. This threatened his whole way of life, not just as an acclaimed performer but as a composer. To make matters worse, his great patron Queen Caroline died. Handel quickly wrote one of his most affecting pieces, The Ways of Zion do Mourn. He rehabilitated at the vapour-baths of Aix-la-Chapelle and regained much of his strength. Meanwhile, the Opera of Nobility had folded, and he was reunited with singers he had previously worked with.

Opera: Arminio, HWV 36

Aria: Mira il ciel, vendrai d'Alcide (Act 3)

Juan Sancho, tenor (Varus)

Armonia Atenea

George Petrou conductor

Opera: Giustino, HWV 37

Aria: Un vostro sguardo (Act 1)

Duet: Mio bel tesoro! (Act 2)

Dawn Kotoski, soprano (Arminio)

Dorothea R怀schmann, soprano (Ariadne)

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Concerto Grosso in E minor, Op. 6 No. 3, HWV 321

Academy of Ancient Music

Andrew Manze, conductor

Oratorio: Il trionfo del Tempo et del Disinganno, HWV 46a

Aria: Lascia la spina

Jennifer Smith (soprano)

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline: The Ways of Zion do Mourn

Introduction and Chorus: The Ways of Zion Do Mourn

Bremen Baroque Orchestra

Wolfgang Helbich, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers

Handel suffers a stroke, losing the use of his right arm and jeopardising his livelihood.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores how Handel's recovery from a stroke, along with the rapprochement with many of his previous performers, led to his creative rejuvenation.

Handel's financial situation was still precarious, to the extent that his friends staged a benefit concert in his honour at the King's Theatre. He composed Serse, one of his greatest later operas, which prefigures Mozart's Da Ponte operas; he became a founder member of the Royal Society of Musicians, and was celebrated in stone, his statue being unveiled in Vauxhall Gardens.

Opera: Serse, HWV 40

Aria: Crude Furie degl'orridi abissi

Recitative: Perfidi! E ancor osate

Aria: Caro voi seite all'alma

Chorus: Ritorno a noi la calma

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (Serse)

Giovanni Furlanetto, bass (Ariodate)

Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor (Arsamene)

Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz, soprano (Romilda)

Silvia Tro Santafe, mezzo-soprano (Amastre)

Antonio Abete, bass (Elviro)

Sandrine Piau, soprano (Atalanta)

Les Arts Florissants Chorus

William Christie, conductor

Oratorio: Saul, HWV 53

Funeral March; Chorus: Mourn, Israel, mourn thy Beauty lost; Chorus: Gird on thy Sword, thou Man of Might (Act 3)

RIAS Chamber Chorus

Concerto K怀ln

Ren退 Jacobs, conductor

Organ Concerto in F major, `The Cuckoo and the Nightingale`, HWV 295

I. Larghetto

II. Allegro

Simon Preston, organ

English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Trio Sonata in F major, Op. 5 No. 6, HWV 401

IV. Allegro

V. Minuet: Allegro moderato

VI. Andante

London Handel Players

Oratorio: Israel in Egypt, HWV 54

Chorus: He gave them hailstones for rain

Chorus: He send a thick darkness over all the land

Chorus: He smote all the first-born of Egypt

Chorus: But as for His people, He led them forth like sheep

Taverner Choir

Taverner Players

Andrew Parrott, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers

Donald Macleod explores Handel's creative rejuvenation following a debilitating stroke.

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe's most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles - golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, it's a sticky hot summer night in 1717 - and the setting for one of Handel's best pieces of public art, beloved for its charm and ingenuity - the Water Music. On our nocturnal voyage we meet a merry band of musicians, a floating monarch, and a Thames embankment thronged with listeners craning their ears to hear the hottest new music in town.

Water Music (Suite 2: i. Allegro)

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Water Music (Suite 2: ii. Hornpipe)

Water Music (Suite 1: excerpt)

Ensemble Zefiro

Alfredo Bernardini, conductor

Water Music (Suite 3)

Academie fur Alte Musik Berlin

Georg Kallweit, conductor

Qual nave smarrita (from Radamisto)

Em怀ke Bကrath, soprano

Ensemble Artaserse

Philippe Jaroussky, conductor

B'Rock Orchestra

Dmitry Sinkovsky, conductor

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales and West

Kate Molleson boards Handel's riverboat for the tale of one of his most storied premieres.

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe's most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles - golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, we head to the private arcadian idyll where Handel was composer-in-residence from 1717-1719. Cannons was a stately home belonging to James Brydges, the cash-flashing Duke of Chandos. With 84-acres of exquisite gardens and a full court of musicians at his disposal, Handel could stretch his creative wings, from chapel music to his pastoral opera Acis and Galatea.

Acis and Galatea (Overture)

London Early Opera

Bridget Cunningham, conductor

Chandos Te Deum (excerpt)

London Handel Orchestra

Adrian Butterfield, conductor

Chandos Anthem No 4 ‘O sing unto the Lord a new song

Ian Partridge, tenor

Lynne Dawson, soprano

The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

Harry Christophers, conductor

Acis and Galatea, Act II: Nos 25-29

Susan Hamilton, soprano (Galatea)

Dunedin Consort

John Butt, conductor

Keyboard Suite in E major ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith', HWV430 (Air & Variations)

Sviatoslav Richter, piano

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales and West

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe's most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles - golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, Handel-mania hits Oxford, as the composer is summoned to provide a week of musical entertainments at the university. Though not everyone is pleased about the invasion of `foreign fiddlers`, his brand new oratorio Athalia turns the Sheldonian Theatre into something of a Georgian mosh pit.

Athalia: Overture

Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Esther, Act I, Scene 4: Tune your harps to cheerful strains; Praise the Lord

Mark Padmore, tenor (First Israelite)

Nancy Argenta, soprano (Israelite Woman)

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, conductor

Organ Concerto in B-flat major, Op 4 No 2

Richard Egarr, organ and director

Jubilate Deo in D major ‘Utrecht', HWV279

Nicki Kennedy (soprano)

Julian Podger (tenor)

William Towers (bass)

Wolfram Lattke (tenor)

Netherlands Bach Society

Jos van Veldhoven, conductor

Athalia, Act II Scene 2: My vengeance awakes me

Joan Sutherland, soprano

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales and West

Kate Molleson follows Handel on a performance-packed sojourn among the dreaming spires.

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe's most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles - golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, Handel takes a packet boat over the Irish Sea to Dublin. In his suitcase is his latest work, Messiah - and he has a hunch the locals will like it. But first, he has to drum up a following, and find some musician

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe's most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls - and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles - golden evenings of 18th-century music making and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, we go through the turnstile of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, the most popular outdoor venue in London. Amidst the glades, grottoes and supper boxes, Handel's so famous around here that there's even a statue of him. We follow him as he runs between performances, and hear how his latest work would cause a three-hour traffic jam on London Bridge.

Music for the Royal Fireworks: VI. Menuet II

Tafelmusik

Jeanne Lamon, conductor

Hornpipe compos'd for Vauxhall

London Early Opera

Bridget Cunningham, conductor

Acis and Galatea: Hush ye pretty warbling quire

Sophie Daneman, soprano

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, conductor

Semele: Where'er you walk

Allan Clayton

The Mozartists

Ian Page, conductor

Concerto Grosso in F major, Op 3 No 4b

Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin

Georg Kallweit, conductor

Zadok the Priest

Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Stephen Cleobury, conductor

Music for the Royal Fireworks (selection)

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West

Kate Molleson invites us to London's classiest al fresco venue for an explosive premiere.